Author: staff

“After all, we told them they must understand that if they want to impose blackouts on us, we will do the same. There are no secrets here,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said during a meeting with several journalists, including POLITICO, in Kyiv last week. The goal is to develop such a muscular non-nuclear strike capability that Russia will stop its own attacks on Ukraine. That hasn’t happened yet, but Ukraine can retaliate to Russian attacks in a way it hadn’t been able to do during the first three years of the war. On Friday, the Kremlin launched more than 450…

“You can’t buy pension reform,” said a deputy finance minister. “It’s going to hit the nerve of what democracy is about.” Over 80 percent of EU pensioners relied on a state pension as their only source of income in 2023. | Dumitru Doru/EPA Pension reform also has a habit of bringing protesters onto the streets. In Brussels, police clashed with trade unions on Tuesday, who were demonstrating over austerity measures that include raising the age of retirement from 65 to 67 by 2030. Belgium got off lightly when compared to France, which witnessed months of protests in 2023 when President…

The Commission outlined four flagship projects in the roadmap, as well as boosting the bloc’s military industrial complex while continuing to support Ukraine, which is considered an “integral part of Europe’s defense and security architecture.” Von der Leyen will present the roadmap to EU leaders at their Oct. 23 summit. The four key defense efforts in the roadmap are: the European Drone Defense Initiative; the Eastern Flank Watch; the European Air Shield; and the European Space Shield. The idea is for the Commission to help members coordinate on projects that are too large for a single country to do on…

Asked about Collins, the deputy national security advisor who submitted the witness statements to the CPS, McCallum said he would make a “rare exception” to speak about Collins’ integrity, having worked with him. “I do consider him to be a man of high integrity and a professional of considerable quality,” he said. McCallum was also careful not to criticize the work of the CPS, telling journalists: “Not only am I not a criminal prosecutor, I’m not a lawyer. And so for the same reason that the DPP (Director of Public Prosecutions) presumably wouldn’t stand up and comment on how to…

Their message is that the EU executive is not yet ready to make compromises to appease lawmakers and national capitals. Although the Commission’s statement did not directly refer to Fitto’s comments, the note came hours after the Italian politician publicly suggested that “we [the Commission] are open to improve this part of this proposal” during a session of the Committee of Regions, a Brussels body that represents local entities. In his remarks, Fitto referred to a number of provisions in the budget proposal that could be amended to give regions — as opposed to national governments — more powers in handling EU…

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán celebrated the announcement that Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin will meet in Budapest to discuss ending the war in Ukraine. “The planned meeting between the American and Russian presidents is great news for the peace-loving people of the world,” Orbán said in a post on X on Thursday. “We are ready!” Trump said he and Putin had held a lengthy phone call earlier in the day, in which “great progress was made” and the two leaders agreed to meet in the Hungarian capital. The Budapest summit would follow an initial round of meetings between Secretary…

Updated: 16/10/2025 – 18:00 GMT+2 Catch up with the most important stories from around Europe and beyond this October 16th, 2025 – latest news, breaking news, World, Business, Entertainment, Politics, Culture, Travel. … More

Deputy Defense Minister Tomas Godliauskas confirmed to journalists that unofficial discussions with public figures and journalists had taken place, but did not provide further details. The government chancellery — the office that supports the prime minister and coordinates the work of ministries — subsequently sent official requests for clarification on the meeting to the Defense Ministry. On Thursday morning, Social Democratic Party leader Mindaugas Sinkevičius told the news website Žinių radijas that he didn’t know why such a meeting was held, while Prime Minister Ruginienė called it “sabotage” (she later backtracked and called it a “misunderstanding”). Asked by reporters whether…

Published on 16/10/2025 – 18:20 GMT+2 •Updated 18:52 Poland’s president has signed a new law introducing zero personal income tax (PIT) for parents raising at least two children, a reform which aims to support families, increase household income and boost economic activity. The bill, presented by Karol Nawrocki in August, removes the income tax obligation on families earning up to 140,000 zloty (€32,973) a year. The tax break is available to all parents who have parental responsibility over children, including legal guardians and foster parents. According to calculations by the presidency, an average Polish family is expected to be around…

Georgia’s interior ministry has fined Finland’s foreign minister after she expressed support for protesters at a pro-EU, anti-government rally on Tbilisi’s main avenue, Rustaveli. Elina Valtonen, who visited Georgia on Tuesday in her role as chair of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), had recorded a video in front of the Georgian parliament. “Peaceful protestors have gathered in front of the parliament building in Tbilisi, Georgia, to voice their concern over the repressive direction of their country … we are here to support them,” Valtonen said in the video. The authorities subsequently fined her 5,000 lari (€1,600)…